Friends of the Lakefront Trail to hand out water, safety tips

To raise awareness about pedestrian and bicycle accidents on the busy Lakefront Trail along Lake Michigan, Friends of the Lakefront Trail is starting the "Share the Shore" initiative on Friday. The campaign is aimed at drawing attention to trail safety, stewardship and etiquette, according to a release.

Friends of the Lakefront Trail will be handing out bottled water and cleaning up the Lakefront Trail at Oak Street Beach, North Avenue Beach and Fullerton Parkway on Friday as a way to spread word of the Share the Shore initiative.

Throughout the campaign, Friends of the Lakefront Trail will be teaching participants tips for sharing the trail. According to the release, trail users should run, walk and bike single file or--at most--two-across and slow down when the trail becomes congested. Slower users should shift to the right of the trail and move off when stopped. For faster bikers, Friends of the Lakefront Trail said you should call out "on your left" before passing anyone.

The Share the Shore campaign will also be asking people to make a pledge to be safe and responsible and change their behavior on the trail. Volunteers will be signing people up for the pledge through the summer starting Friday.

Lee Crandell, director of campaigns at the Active Transportation Alliance, said that the ATA is also looking at possible redesigns for the trail to go along with the rebuilding of northern Lake Shore Drive.

"We've been organizing our Friends of the Lakefront Trail initiative and listening more to what the trail users need," Crandell said. "We held some workshops in spring where we heard back that people want to have education on trail etiquette. We heard that other people need the education."

For more information about Friends of the Lakefront Trail and the Share the Shore initiative, click here.